New Start Neil
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Greetings all,
So here's the thing....
I am toying with the idea of an HTPC, and I have wanted an MCE machine running films/photos etc for such a long time.
The thing is, do I really need one, or is my desire to have one getting the better of me?
Here's what I was thinking:
MY PC is in the back room, it's a decent spec Athlon 64 3400 with 3Gb of RAM, an ATI X800 Pro (with XT BIOS), DVD +/- burner, and 4 x 300Gb SATA drives (the mobo is an Asus K8V SE Deluxe)
It's connected via ethernet to my router in the front room, which is also connected to my Snazio 1350 DVD player by ethernet.
The Snazio is connected my my Hitachi 42PD7200 by DVI, so what I was wondering is whether I could take my PC components listed above and source myself a nice HTPC case & fot them all in and replace the Snazio?
I would still need a PC in the back room, so I'd need to kind of replace with the same sort of spec but as I don't play games on my PC I think it would be cheap enough to do.
I do love the Snazio & it's versatility, but I feel that as a DVD player it falls short.
I have a Denon 1906 amp, and the kit is connected to it in the following way:
Sky HD box: Optical.
Snazioigital Co-ax.
Xbox 360: Optical.
So what I'm basically thinking is of replacing my Snazio with an HTPC as it could use the current DVI lead to connect to my plasma, I'm just not sure about the audio connections.
Or am I just barking up the wrong tree-will getting an MCE HTPC not really give me much that the Snazio doesn't already offer?
I really don't know what to do-whether to use my existing parts & put them in an HTPC case, or whether to spec & (attempt to!) build a new HTPC, but I can see money becoming an issue then (although maybe no more than buying a case/transferring bits into it and then buying more bits to replace the old bits I took out of my PC in the back room! )
I hope that makes sense, I know I want an HTPC running MCE, I just don't know if I can justify it.
I'd appreciate all of your thoughts.
Cheers.
[Edit]-The other thing is that currently all my stuff is controlled by a Logitech Harmony 885 remote, so I would need to ensure that the HTPC would be controllable by that too.
So here's the thing....
I am toying with the idea of an HTPC, and I have wanted an MCE machine running films/photos etc for such a long time.
The thing is, do I really need one, or is my desire to have one getting the better of me?
Here's what I was thinking:
MY PC is in the back room, it's a decent spec Athlon 64 3400 with 3Gb of RAM, an ATI X800 Pro (with XT BIOS), DVD +/- burner, and 4 x 300Gb SATA drives (the mobo is an Asus K8V SE Deluxe)
It's connected via ethernet to my router in the front room, which is also connected to my Snazio 1350 DVD player by ethernet.
The Snazio is connected my my Hitachi 42PD7200 by DVI, so what I was wondering is whether I could take my PC components listed above and source myself a nice HTPC case & fot them all in and replace the Snazio?
I would still need a PC in the back room, so I'd need to kind of replace with the same sort of spec but as I don't play games on my PC I think it would be cheap enough to do.
I do love the Snazio & it's versatility, but I feel that as a DVD player it falls short.
I have a Denon 1906 amp, and the kit is connected to it in the following way:
Sky HD box: Optical.
Snazioigital Co-ax.
Xbox 360: Optical.
So what I'm basically thinking is of replacing my Snazio with an HTPC as it could use the current DVI lead to connect to my plasma, I'm just not sure about the audio connections.
Or am I just barking up the wrong tree-will getting an MCE HTPC not really give me much that the Snazio doesn't already offer?
I really don't know what to do-whether to use my existing parts & put them in an HTPC case, or whether to spec & (attempt to!) build a new HTPC, but I can see money becoming an issue then (although maybe no more than buying a case/transferring bits into it and then buying more bits to replace the old bits I took out of my PC in the back room! )
I hope that makes sense, I know I want an HTPC running MCE, I just don't know if I can justify it.
I'd appreciate all of your thoughts.
Cheers.
[Edit]-The other thing is that currently all my stuff is controlled by a Logitech Harmony 885 remote, so I would need to ensure that the HTPC would be controllable by that too.